Shopping
by Last Marauder of Five
Summary: Damon and Elena go shopping together. What happens when Damon decides to give her a gift? Delena


**Disclaimer: **Wow! Who would have guessed? I don't own The Vampire Diaries!

Shopping

Damon rang the doorbell to Elena's home. He wondered whether he did the right thing offering to take Elena shopping for the party that would take place that night. After all, he knew the reaction Stefan had every time they did something together. But he wanted to spend some time with her and that was the perfect opportunity. He heard footsteps approaching the door and smiled, looking forward to having an afternoon with Elena all for himself.

• Hi, Damon! - Elena greeted, smiling.

• Ready? - He asked, doing his "eye thing"

She nodded and Damon ran to his car to open the door for her. Though she claimed she didn't care for those formalities, he always saw a smile appear on her face when he pulled her a chair or allowed her to enter a room first, so he kept doing it over her many protests. He heard her sigh as he waited for her to climb into the vehicle and laughed lowly, wondering when would she stop pretending to hate it. As soon as she closed the door, Damon was sitting beside her, his the key in the ignition. She gave him her best eye roll and muttered something under her breath. He shook his head, smiling.

• I'm not a show-off. I just like to use my abilities when no one who doesn't know I'm vampire is watching. - He retorted, trying to hide the laughter in his tone.

• Show-off. - Elena insisted.

Damon just chuckled and shook his head again. He didn't mind her attempts at annoying him. Actually, he rather liked arguing with her. They usually ended with both of them laughing and having fun, which pissed Stefan off majorly, as their arguments seldom finished in anything other than Elena screaming at him and going back to her house, slamming the door on her way out. He had witnessed several of those fights from his room, just listening. At first, they were usually trying to convince each other of something. Then things escalated and they started cursing and getting exasperated with their partner's stubbornness. Most of the times, in the end, Elena marched out of the house, still screaming, and went away to cool off. They fascinated Damon. He didn't understand how that could be classified as a healthy relationship. Sure, arguing was normal and expected, but their arguments got out of hand and they didn't manage to understand each other. His relationships may never last more than a week, but he did know what was considered a healthy union. However, the most puzzling thing for him was how, in the next day, they were already all cute and fluffy.

He shook the memories out of his mind and concentrated on the present. He had to find somewhere to take Elena shopping. He really wanted to buy the clothes for her, but he knew she would never accept, so bringing her an expensive place would be rather impolite. But at the same time he wanted her to have all she desired, no matter how high the price. Damon almost allowed a sigh to come out of his mouth. For now, he would have to settle for what Elena thought was better.

The ride to the mall was silent. He could tell that Elena was musing over something very important, but he couldn't even guess what it was. Damon's mind was far away as well, pondering over the boundaries of their weird relationship. He wanted to know whether secretly buying her a dress would be inappropriate. Though he believed he had made peace with the fact that she wasn't going to let him buy her anything, probably fearing Stefan's reaction, he still wanted to please her and he knew that she would very much like to get a very expensive dress as a gift, even if she claimed otherwise.

He parked the car with a smile on his face. He was sure of what he should do. He would allow Elena to buy whatever she wanted and, while she was window-shopping or something like that he would buy another one. That way, if she absolutely refused to receive the present, she would still have a new dress to wear to the party. He laughed at himself innerly. He was making way too much of a big deal out of that.

Elena climbed out of the car almost faster than Damon. She was really excited about going shopping. It had been months since she had gone out of her little world, which was filled with vampires, dopplegängers, werewolves and witches. It was nice to take a break from all that, even if it was with Damon, whose company she had come to both enjoy and fear. She was just happy to escape reality for a couple of hours and possibly have a very good time, as she had had in Atlanta so long ago. It was a memory she cherished against all her instincts. That was the day she began to see that there was more to Damon than met the eye, that behind all the facades he put on there was a guy who was worth getting to know.

She took a deep breath, not wanting to start her day on the wrong side. Every time she went out with Damon was the same thing. She started to think about the non-despicable side of the vampire and a part of her just wanted to forget Stefan and be with the older brother. But she wouldn't do that. She loved Stefan and wanted him and only him. Or so she told herself. Elena rolled her eyes at herself, trying not to feel ridiculous and hoping that Damon hadn't seen that. She was aware that he had realized that she was thinking about something important in the car, but he didn't know what she had been musing over and she would rather it stayed that way.

They made their way to the stores in silence. Both of them were starting to get uncomfortable. They hardly ever stayed so long in silence. Damon always had a sarcastic comment to make about something and Elena usually tried to start a conversation. But now neither one of them really wanted to say anything, as their minds were occupied thinking about extremely private subjects.

But as they arrived at the stores, both their moods improved in a matter of seconds. The store's lights called their attention back to the real world and they just couldn't ignore it any longer. On the very first window, Elena's eyes fell on a simple black dress, with a beautiful, apparently soft and comfortable fabric. Just the kind of clothing she liked. Damon made a mental note to come back to that store, especially when he saw the small wince the girl made once she looked at the price tag. He knew she had marked that dress as a no way.

They continued their tour, talking and laughing like they usually did. Their previous mood was almost forgotten, dismissed as mere apprehension. After all, Stefan had made a point of giving Elena the "Damon is Dangerous" speech and his brother, the "Keep your Hands off Elena" one. They both knew he wasn't being overprotective. Elena was aware that her companion could get them in a lot of trouble, but she was already so deep in the supernatural world she could barely remember times when things were simpler, so she highly doubted that the vampire could make things worse. And Damon did want to have the dopplegänger for himself. His thoughts frequently drifted that way, but he respected Elena and wouldn't try anything more than a couple of suggestive comments after she so easily rejected him. Not that he didn't want to.

Finally, after a lot of staring, thinking, pondering and more staring, they entered a store. Damon sighed as the girl ran through the narrow corridors, searching for something that would please her. If she just allowed him to buy her clothes, he would be more than happy to renew her wardrobe. But, of course, she didn't, so he had to watch as she got frustrated by the prices over and over again.

He sat on a bench at the entrance of the store, waiting for Elena to choose her clothes. He enjoyed observing her as she looked at the dresses, eventually smiling and picking one. He didn't even notice a grin started to form on his lips until Elena pointed it out.

• What are you smiling at? - She asked, startling the vampire.

• Nothing, nothing really. So, ready to try them on? - He inquired, nodding towards the stack of clothes she carried.

• Yep! Just wait here, I'll be back in a minute. - She replied, smiling.

Damon was glad to see Elena disappear in the crowd of people. He needed sometime for his mind to snap out of the meditative state it had been in. He was thinking about so many things at the same time he wasn't sure what exactly was in his thoughts. All he really knew was that Elena was the main topic. He wanted to please her even though he knew she out of his reach. He couldn't understand that. It wasn't his usual behavior, but somehow he felt happier. The mere thought of giving her a gift was enough to make his eyes shine in pleasure. It freaked him out, but he couldn't help it.

He felt a movement close to him and he snapped back into reality. Elena was standing besides him, even more beautiful than the usual in the strapless white dress. Damon smiled, nodding enthusiastically.

• Wonderful. - He half-whispered, wondering whether she knew the how stunning she looked.

• I really like it, too. You know what? I'll take it. - She declared, her lips curving up in a decisive smile.

Damon gestured with his hand towards the cashier. Elena groaned, almost laughing. Paying was always the worse part. Picking up the credit card and seeing all that money being taken from her account was torture, but she knew it was worth it. She loved opening her wardrobe in the morning and finding something new in it. Plus, the party she was going to that night called for it. Months had passed since she had last gone to a big social event and she wanted to be ready for it.

While she undressed and payed, Damon sneaked out. He ran to that first store they had looked at, where Elena had really liked the black dress that was on display. He imagined her face when she saw that he had bought it. She would probably complain and tell him that he shouldn't have bothered, but in the very end she would be grateful, he was sure of that. Damon sprinted in, knowing that he had no time to lose. He talked to the first attendant he found, speaking so fast that it was a wonder that the guy could understand him.

• Do you have that dress on display on size, say, 4? - He asked, wondering whether that was really Elena's size. If it wasn't she could change.

• Yes, yes. Will it be a gift? - The shop attendant inquired.

• Yes, please.

Damon waited, pacing around. He wanted to compel the man to work faster, but he knew that Elena would be really pissed off, so he couldn't. She had a hold on him that made him extremely uncomfortable, but somehow he actually liked it. His impatience was almost getting a hold on him. He wanted it to be a surprise and if things kept going as slowly as they were there was no way he was going to be able to arrive back at the store before Elena noticed he was gone.

Just when he was about to give up and compel the guy, he gave Damon the package and the POS for him to pay. He shoved his credit card in, wishing the thing would work faster. After typing his password and the transaction being accepted, he picked up the bag with the dress and his card and ran back to the store where he had left Elena.

She was still in the line, her eyes glued on her cellphone. He sighed in relief, glad to see that she was too entertained to have noticed his absence. He hid the bag behind his back and went to talk with her, trying to keep the smile out his face.

• What's keeping you so concentrated? - He asked, peeking over her shoulder.

• Damon, you scared me! - She exclaimed, laughing. - And I'm just texting Stefan. It's nothing really important.

Still curious, he snatched her phone out of her hand and read her messages.

"How is it going with Damon?"

"Really well! I'm having a blast!"

"He didn't try anything?"

"As amazing as that may sound, no."

Damon almost laughed. Everyone was so worried that he would do something he would do something to Elena. They didn't understand that he cared too much for her to actually hurt her. He gave the phone back to her, smiling.

• It looks like your boyfriend is worried. - He said, lifting his eyebrows.

• Damon, stay out of my phone! - She ordered, though she couldn't conceal the laughter in her voice.

• Your turn. - Damon pointed out, nodding towards the cashier.

Elena ran to the counter, her smile almost fading at the thought of having to pay. Damon whispered in her ear that he would be waiting for her outside. He didn't want to see her face when she passed the credit card. It was different to think of paying and actually doing so. He sat on a bench right in front of the store's entrance and allowed his mind to drift out of the real world. Now that he was so close to giving her the gift different scenarios were passing through his mind. What if she didn't like it? What if she thought of it as an attempt to get her? What if she just ignored it? He didn't know what he would do if something like that was to happen. But he would figure something out.

She came out of the store with a smile on her face. Damon's mouth formed a smile, but he didn't notice. Elena walked over to the bench and sat beside him, grinning madly.

• What's in the bag? - She asked, her eyes falling on the white plastic bag sitting on Damon's lap.

• Just a little something for you. - He replied, his smile getting wider.

• What is it? - She inquired, knitting her eyebrows in suspicion.

He didn't answer. Instead, he took the dress out of the bag and showed it to her. Her eyes lit up in wonder, but at the same time they still showed suspicion. Her hands moved to touch the soft fabric, but stopped. Damon put her gift on her lap and waited for her to say something.

• Is this a trick? - She finally asked.

• No. No tricks, I promise. - Damon replied.

• You shouldn't have. - She whispered, still awestruck.

• I wanted to. - Damon insisted, his smile becoming softer as he realized something was wrong.

They just sat on the bench for a long time. Elena wouldn't say a word. Damon didn't dare interrupt her thoughts. She seemed to be having an internal battle that could be compared with the Trojan War. He was aware that many people were passing them and giving them angry looks. He couldn't blame them, after all, they had ben occupying a whole bench for a long time, but he did want to kill them for disturbing Elena.

Damon couldn't tell if one or two hours had passed, but after a long time Elena got up and walked away. He didn't know whether he should follow her, as she may want to have some time alone, but he knew he couldn't let her walk home in the darkness all by herself, so he ran after her, hoping that she wouldn't get angry at him for that. They made their way to the garage in silence. Damon kept glancing at Elena, worried. He didn't know what was going through her mind, but he knew it was something big, something even more important than what she had been musing over when they were in the car.

He opened the door for her and she didn't even look at him. Something was really wrong. He climbed into the car and turned it on, wondering whether Elena would ever speak to him again. She had never been silent for so long. He wanted to bang his head against the wheel for upsetting Elena, even though he didn't know what he had done wrong, but he knew that it wouldn't accomplish anything. There was nothing he could do, especially since he didn't know what was the problem.

The trip back to Mystic Falls was silent. Elena still wouldn't open her mouth and Damon had been sucked into his thoughts, so he didn't even try to get her to talk. Sometimes it looked like she was about to say something, but she never did. The air was thick with tension, but both of them were too deep in thought to realize it. Damon's mind was working on what had happened to Elena when he gave her the dress, on what sort of internal battle was going on inside her head. He never managed to come up with a realistic answer.

He decided to drop Elena off at her house, as somehow he felt that leaving her at the boarding house would only make the situation worse. He pulled up on the drive way and opened the car's door for her. Again, he received no reaction. He sighed and accompanied her to the door, hoping that she would tell him not to or something like that. He would settle for any reaction. Elena turned the doorknob, slowly, as if she was considering not doing it, and entered the house. Damon sighed again, turning around and preparing to run to his house. But then he felt a warmness on his shoulder and looked back to find Elena standing behind him, the door open behind her.

• Damon… - She started. - I just wanted to say… Thank you.

• You're welcome. - He replied, his features softening at the sound of her voice.

• And… - She spun him around and her lips met his.

Damon felt the whole world fade by comparison. All what mattered was Elena, the softness of her lips and the magic in that moment. He enjoyed each second of the kiss, knowing that it could be the last. When they finally broke it off, neither one of them knew how much time had passed.

Elena took his hand and led him inside, the tense expression that had been on her face replaced by a broad smile. She made her way to her room, not hesitating for one second. Once inside, she shut the door and turned her attention back to Damon.


End file.
